Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at UPMC Magee
300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1952311508
$903.60
Cash price Discounted cash price What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge. Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.
?
What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$1,506.00
Gross charge Gross charge (chargemaster price) The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this. Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.
?
The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$41.25 with UPMC Health Plan vs $1,385.52 with Multiplan — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
?
Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →
?
Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →Payer ?Payer The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on. Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509. Full explanation → |
Plan ?Plan The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates. Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible. Full explanation → |
Negotiated rate | vs. cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicaid | $41.25 | ↓ -95% |
| United Healthcare Community Plan for Families | PA CHIP/PA Medicaid | $41.25 | ↓ -95% |
| Aetna | CHIP/Medicaid | $48.75 | ↓ -95% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicaid | $55.61 | ↓ -94% |
| Geisinger | Medicaid/CHIP | $58.38 | ↓ -94% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Community HealthChoices (CHC)/Medicaid | $59.34 | ↓ -93% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Community Health Choices/PA Medicaid HMO | $63.91 | ↓ -93% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $69.75 | ↓ -92% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $79.86 | ↓ -91% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $158.84 | ↓ -82% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Partners/Select | $174.10 | ↓ -81% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $174.39 | ↓ -81% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $178.21 | ↓ -80% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $183.28 | ↓ -80% |
| United Healthcare | Medicare | $183.30 | ↓ -80% |
| AmeriHealth Caritas | Medicare | $183.30 | ↓ -80% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $186.69 | ↓ -79% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $231.05 | ↓ -74% |
| UPMC Health Plan | CHIP | $239.62 | ↓ -73% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $267.89 | ↓ -70% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $309.42 | ↓ -66% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $358.76 | ↓ -60% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $464.14 | ↓ -49% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $542.16 | ↓ -40% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $587.34 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $590.35 | ↓ -35% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $602.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $602.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $602.40 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $602.40 | ↓ -33% |
| InterGroup | PPO | $753.00 | ↓ -17% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $1,054.20 | ↑ +17% |
| Preferred Healthcare System | PPO | $1,204.80 | ↑ +33% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $1,280.10 | ↑ +42% |
| Humana | Commercial | $1,280.10 | ↑ +42% |
| Multiplan | PPO | $1,385.52 | ↑ +53% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Barium Swallow (Esophagus X-ray) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $873.00 | $41.25 – $186.69 |
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $804.00 | $41.25 – $202.78 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $1,312.80 | $27.00 – $203.15 |
| UPMC St. Margaret | Pittsburgh | $779.40 | $41.25 – $186.69 |
| UPMC Altoona | Altoona | $302.40 | $22.50 – $403.20 |
| UPMC Bedford | Everett | $186.00 | $39.38 – $279.00 |
| UPMC Carlisle | Carlisle | $427.80 | $29.48 – $606.05 |
| UPMC Cole | Coudersport | $249.00 | $39.38 – $332.00 |